Hoisting apparatus



. (N0 Modem 2 SheetsSheet 1.

R. JOHNSTON. HOISTING APPARATUS.

Patented A r. 26, 1898.

mlv'mm Qu et/Maw N. R R

(-No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2. R JOHNSTON HOISTING APPARATUS.

No. 603,192. Patented Apr. 26,1898.

- UNITE STATES PATENT GFFICE.

.ROBERT JOHNSTON, OF RIVER FALLS, WISCONSIN.

HOISYT-ING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,192, dated April 26, 1898.

Application filed March 26, 1897.

To all whom it may concern: 4

Be it known that I, ROBERT JOHNSTON, a citizen of the Unit-ed States, residing at River Falls, in the county of St. Croix and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hoisting Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, 7

Myinvention relates to mechanism for hoisting or transporting materials, adapted either for raising or lowering materials to or from the roofs or other parts of buildings or for conveying material or objects horizontally from one place to another, the apparatus being equally adapted for service under conditions where a hoisting or conveying apparatus cannot easily be rigged up for transferring a load.

v For hoisting or lowering materials to or from buildings I utilize the principle of an inclined track or way, which provides for supporting the load partially and relieving the hoisting mechanism of the dead-weight of the object to be transported. When the apparatus is to be used for conveying a load in a substantially horizontal plane, the same principle of a track or way for the. weight is employed inconnection with devices which move the carrier and mechanism for imparting power to the weight moving mechanism and to change the grade of the track or way cable as may be required.

In my invention Iemploy what -I choose to call a power mechanism or hoist, comprising two shafts or drums, with mechanism for controlling each shaft or drum and for imparting motion thereto, whereby the tracker way cable may be slackened tofpermit the work to be adjusted or deposited in the required place andfthe weight-transferring cable may be controlled to move the weight along the track or way cable to the proper place where the load is to be deposited.

To the accomplishment of these ends my invention consists in the novel combination of devices and in the construction and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand my inven- Serial No. 629,401. '(No model.)

I tion, I have illustrated the different applica tions of the same in the accompanying drawings, forming-a part of this specification, and

in which 5 Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus, showing it rigged for moving weights to or from a building. Fig. 2 is aperspective view showing the apparatus rigged up for transferring a load in a substantially horizontal plane. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the power mechanism. Fig. 4 is a side view of the same, and Fig. 5 is an end view of the mechanism shown by Figs. 3 and 4:-

Like numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings, referring to which v ldesignates the frame of the power mechanism. This frame consists of the base-sills 2, the upright standards 3, and the inclined brace-timbers 4, rigidly united to the basesills and the standards, the whole beingj oined together and constructed in a substantial manner to stand the strain to which the power orhoist is exposed in service. The inclined brace-timbers carrya pair of alined journalbearings'5, in which is journaled a shaft 6, which may or may not be provided with a spool or drum, and to this shaft is connected one of the cables of the load-transferring system. Similar journal-bearings 7 are secured to'the rear side of the uprights or standards 2 of the frame, and in said bearings is journaled another shaft 8, which may or may not be provided with a spool or drum for the attachment of the other cable of the weighttransferring system. These shafts are par- .allel to each other, and they are designed to be driven from a common driving-shaft 9, which is journaled in suitable bearings on the frame in-a plane between the two parallel shafts 6 8 of the power or hoist. This driving-shaft may be provided with cranks for. its operation conveniently by hand, or to the said power-shaft may be geared a vertical shaft which may be operated by a horse-sweep,-or amotor or engine may be. geared up to said power-shaft, all as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. In the drawings, however, I have only deemed it necessary to illustrate the hand-cranks attached to the ends of the power-shaft 9. On this powershaft 9 are fitted the gear-pinions 11 12, which mesh with the spur gear-wheels 13 14; on the parallel shafts or drums 6 S; but these pinions 11 12 are not designed to be in engagement with both cable shafts 6 and 8 at the same time. To this end I arrange the pinions 11 12 on the power-shat t so that they may slide thereon to throw one set of pinions in gear with either of the cable-shafts (3 01' S, or said piuions 11 2 may be carried by a power-shaft 9, which mayslide in its bearings, or said pinions may be clutched to the power-shaft and adjusted by suitable controlling-levers. I prefer to mount the pinions 11 12 loosely on the powershaft and to provide clutches and levers for making the pinions fast to the shaft and for adjusting the pinions and clutches as may be required.

\Vith the spur-gear 13 of the shaft 6 is adapted to engage a pawl 15, which is pivoted to the base of the frame for the purpose of holding the shaft or drum 6 against rotation when desired or for adjusting said pawl out of e11- gagement with the shaft to permit the latter to rotate in its bearings. A similar pawl 16 is pivoted to the frame to engage with the gear 14 of the shaft 8 to hold said shaft against backward rotation and to be adjusted to free itself from the shaft when the latter is to be adjusted to slacken its cable.

Over the shaft 8 is arranged another shaft or spool 17,which is j ournaled in suitable bearings in the top ends of the standards for the purpose of overrigging a rope or cable when desired to lower a weight. This overriggingshaft has a brake mechanism consisting of a disk 18, fixed to the shaft 8, and a movable brake-shoe 19, supported in a suitable way on the frame of the power-hoist, said brakeshoe having a suitable controlling-lever for regulating the rotation of the rigging-shaft.

In applying my system to a building for transferring a load, such as materials, to or from the ground and the top of a building I proceed to erect a mast 20 on the top of the building and to anchor the power-hoist to the ground at a suitable distance to one side of the building. Between the mast and the power-hoist is arranged the track or way cable 21, one end of which is attached to the mast and the other end of which cable is coiled on and attached to the shaft or spool 6 of the power-hoist, the latter shaft or spool being held fixed by the pawl. This cable assumes an inclined position, and it forms a track on which the load is suspended by suitable pulleys or a wheeled carriage, so that the track or cable serves to sustain a part of the weight of the load. In the system shown by Fig. 1 the load is represented in a conventional way at 22, and the carriage is represented by two sheaves or blocks 23 24:, the wheels of which are fitted to the track-cable 21 and the hooks connected by ropes to the load 22; but in lieu of these blocks or sheaves I may use a wheeled carriage of suitable construction adapted to be connected to the load.

To the mast is attached a block or sheave 25, and in connection with this mast, the block 25, and the power-hoist I employ a haulage-cable 26, which is rigged as follows: One end of the haulage-cable is made fast to the mast in any suitable way, as at the point indicated by 27. From thence the cable leads through a sheave or block 28, connected to the wheeled carriage or the load, thence to and through the block or sheave 25 on the mast, and thence to and coiled on the spool or shaft 8 of the power-hoist. In connecting the load to the wheeled carriage preparatory to hoisting the same to the top of a building the shaft or spool 6 is turned to slaeken the cable 21, so that the ropes may be easily adj usted to the object or load and the wheeled carriage, after which the shaft (3 is taken up to stretch the cable 21 to a taut condition and raise the load from the ground, the shaft 6 and track-cable being held by the pawl. The power-shaft is now rotated to haul in the cable 26 and raise the load and carriage 011 the inclined track-cable, which sustains a part of the weight of the load, and when the load has reached the desired elevation the shafts 6 and 8 may be turned independently of each other to ease up somewhat on the cables 21 26 for the purpose of depositing the load at the proper place and without undue jar or shock.

My system may also be used for transferring a load horizontally from one place to another, and in Fig. 2 of the drawings I have shown my apparatus adjusted for service in carrying material excavated from a chasm. On opposite banks of the excavation are erected tripods, (indicated at 30 31,) and on the bank on which is erected the tripod 30 I anchor the power-hoist, as shown. The track or way cable 21 is stretched across the chasm, and one end thereof is fastened to the tripod 31, while the other end of said track-cable is coiled on the shaft or drum 8 of said power-hoist. A wheeled carriage 23, consisting of one or more sheaves or blocks, is fitted to the track-cable 21 and adapted to carry the load, which in the ease shown by Fig. 2 consists of a receptacle or bucket to carry the material removed from the excavation or to be deposited, as may be required by the work in hand. The receptacle may be a scraper to excavate the material from the bottom or sides of a trench or chasm, and with the carriage and bucket or scraper is combined a double haulage-eable (indicated at 33 34) coiled in reverse directions on the shaft or drum 6 of the powerhoist. One haulage-cable 33 is conducted through a vertically-adjustable sheave 35, suspended in the tripod 30, thence across the chasm or excavation to the tripod 31, and finally attached to the carriage 23 in order to haul the latter in one direction across the excavation. The other cable 34: is extended from the drum or shaft 6 through a sheave 37 on the tripod 30 and is then connected to the wheeled carriage to draw it in the opposite direction from the direction given thereto by the cable The cables 33 34 are so coiled on the shaft '6 as to .provide a permanent al-c lowance of .abundant slack sufficient to provide for the lowering of the wheeled carriage I into the excavation when the track-cable is slackened, and in the operation of the power mechanism the shaft 6 is rotated to first take up the slack in one or the other of the cables 33 34, according to the direction of rotation of said shaft, before the haulage-cable on which the shaft exerts its strain begins to pull on the carriage to move the load. As

the shaft 6 is rotated in one direction theca therefrom, and the cable-shaft6 may be rotated tomove the carriage along the trackcable to convey the load to the desired place where the load is to be discharged.

It is thought the operation of myinvention willbe readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings.

and alterations as fairly fall within the scope of my invention.

Although I have shown and described the use of a mast erected on abuilding, I do not limit myself to the use of such mast. In fact,

materials in bridge construction.

I prefer .to use a tripod, or what is called shears, as a substitute for the mast to support the track-cable at a proper height to carry a load,'because such tripod does not require the use of stays to steady it, as does a mast, such guy lines or stays being expensive and often in the way of the attendant. In case of the employment of a shears, consisting of two pieces of timber fastened together at the top and braced by only two stays, I can adjust the track-cable by closing or opening the lower ends of the timbers. V

The overrigging shaft or drum' at the top of the power-hoist is useful in hauling in the lines and bringing back to the hoist the pulleys and receptacles or carriages; also, in transferring across a chasm where the load may be carried down a slight incline, as is frequently required in hauling timbers and Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination with a mast or other supporting device, of apower mechanism embracing independent winding-shafts and a powershaft common to both shafts and with shiftingmechanism, a track-cable attached at one end to the mast or supporting device and at its other end to one of the winding-shafts, a carriage, and a haulage-cable attached at one end to the supporting device, thence running through sheaves on the carriage and supporting device, and connected to the other winding-shaft, substantially as described.-

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT JOHNSTON. 

